My favorite quote of all time is by Albert Einstein. “Imagination is everything, it is the preview of life's coming attractions.” If you take a moment to find out what a Bookmans employee is up to in their free time, you'll realize that we are surrounded by endless amounts of creativity. Personally, I enjoy sewing, paper arts and drawing in my free time. However, at Bookmans we have some incredibly talented people!

You'll find musicians, artists, writers, graphic designers, and so much more at each store. Recently, Amanda Jaskulski, an employee at our Phoenix location, was published in Phoenix Woman, a local magazine. You can check out her article here. We also have Joseph Gonzalez, whose blog, Come See My Art, is all about local Phoenix arts & literature. Or have you ever read the webcomic, The Konamis, by Mesa store employee TJ Maiden? You too will find yourself at the edge of your seat as you join The Konamis in their rock 'n' roll adventures! These are just a few of the amazing and talented individuals I work with every day.

Recently, Mesa employee Tina coordinated our very first all-company artist trading card swap! Artsist trading cards are miniature works of art created in 2 ½" x 3 ½" format. They are all original, unique, and follow a theme. Each artist participating created three trading cards and sent them to Tina. Tina then blindly chose three cards from those received and shared them with the participants! You can view the most recent swap here on Flickr.

Here's a note from Tina: "A huge thank you to all the employees who joined in on the second artist trading card swap. We had lots of fun with the theme of 'travel' for this swap. What diversity in interpretation. We hope to include our customers in the next swap. The details for our next artistic endeavor will be made available after the holidays. Keep checking back for more details. You can email me directly at tinah@bookmans.com Please use ATC in the subject line. Again, thanks to all who joined us for this."

And thank you, Tina, for all your hard work in making this happen!